


Solidarity

by BunniesofDoom



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Friendship, Gen, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Medical Inaccuracies, Pre-Canon, Pre-Volume 1 (RWBY), Ruby Rose (RWBY) Needs a Hug, Sick Character, Sickfic, Yang Xiao Long Needs a Hug, ruby rose is a good lil sis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 22:54:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28964226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BunniesofDoom/pseuds/BunniesofDoom
Summary: Yang has always been proud of her hair.
Relationships: Ruby Rose & Taiyang Xiao Long, Ruby Rose & Yang Xiao Long
Kudos: 48





	Solidarity

**Author's Note:**

> Couldn't get this idea out of my head, so I'm just going to post this so it'll leave me alone. This is set pre-series, and Ruby and Yang are about 10 and 12, respectively, for the bulk of it. Content warning for implications of cancer and chemotherapy, and a brief mention of vomit. No character death, though!
> 
> Enjoy!

Yang has always been proud of her hair.

Ruby remembers the temper tantrum that Yang had thrown after she got her first haircut. It was extra explosive because in the process of screaming and crying and flailing around, her older sister had unlocked her semblance, leaving a smoking hole in the wall where she punched it. Their father had been furious, making Yang clean up the mess she'd made. She'd been forced to patch up the wall and sent to bed without dinner.

But, he also never tried to cut her hair ever again.

She also remembers the way that Yang used to spend hours in front of the mirror as a child, messing with her hair and trying out different styles. Ruby never quite understood her sister's fascination, but she had to admit that her sister's hair was beautiful, and it was fun to try out the different hairstyles. Ruby would try to copy her sister's handiwork sometimes, relishing in the proud smile Yang would give her when she got it right.

Ruby also remembers when Yang first started to get sick. It started off innocently enough, with Yang complaining that her left arm was sore. She'd been training hard in her classes at Signal Academy, so their father chalked it up to a muscle strain and told her to take it easy for a few days. But a few days becomes a week becomes two weeks, and the pain doesn't go away. Yang starts struggling to keep up in her classes.

And then the other symptoms appear. Yang becomes less interested at mealtimes, appetite dwindling. She complains of chills and body aches and an ever-present headache. After a month, their father puts his foot down and insists on dragging her older sister to the doctor when her weight loss becomes too obvious for him to ignore, even with his busy schedule.

As she's too young to be left alone, Ruby accompanies them to the doctor's office. She sits and waits while the doctor runs lots of tests and talks to her father and sister. She doesn't really understand what's happening or most of the big words that the doctor is saying, but the grim expressions on the faces of everyone at the clinic tell her that something bad is happening.

"Daddy," she asks when they're finally home. It was dark outside by the time they'd returned to the house. Yang had gone straight to bed, leaving them alone in the living room. "What's going on with Yang? What's wrong?"

Her dad kneels down in front of her and hugs her tightly. "Your sister is very sick," he tells her gently.

Ruby frowns, worried. "She's going to be okay, right?" she asks quietly, suddenly feeling very small.

"The doctors are taking very good care of her." Her father sighs heavily. Ruby hates seeing him look so sad.

"What can I do to help?" she asks earnestly.

Her father hugs her again. She presses her face into his shoulder and squeezes him tightly in return. "Well," he begins gently, a soft smile on his face. "Just be there for your sister. She's going through a hard time right now, but I know she'll do better if she has you by her side."

"Okay," Ruby replies, nodding in determination. She can do that.

And so, Ruby does everything she can to support her sister.

She picks up Yang's homework from Signal when she misses class days and keeps her sister company when she's stuck in bed, sick and bored and miserable. She makes jokes and tells stories and reads books to her sister when Yang is too tired to do anything, to help take her mind off the pain. Their uncle Qrow comes to stay with them for a while, to help take care of Yang and take her to her weekly doctor's appointments when their dad is busy with school.

Ruby tags along for all of Yang's doctor visits, staying by her side as the doctor gives her medicines that always seem to leave her sicker than before. She comforts her sister when she throws up and cries and shakes from the pain. When Yang doesn't want to eat, she pesters Qrow until he teaches her how to make her sister's favorite foods. She does everything she can, but she's not sure if it's enough.

And then, one lazy rainy Saturday morning, Ruby is startled out of her daydreams by the sound of her sister crying. Another sob drifts through the air as Ruby whips her head around to look at her sister. Yang is standing in front of the mirror, getting ready like she does every morning, a hairbrush in one hand—and a clump of long blonde hair in the other. "Yang?"

"My hair's starting to fall out," her sister says quietly, tears trailing silently down her cheeks. "I don't know what to do."

Ruby isn't sure what to do either, but she hates seeing her sister so upset. She bolts across the room, skidding to a halt in front of her sister, and hugs Yang tightly, leaving rose petals scattered in her wake. "It's okay, Yang."

Her sister is silent for a moment, wrapping her arms around Ruby in return and resting her chin on top of her head. "Was that your semblance?"

"Oh, yeah," Ruby pulls back, shuffling her feet awkwardly. "Sorry, I mean to tell you, but I forgot. I unlocked it the other day during training."

"I'm sorry I missed it," Yang says quietly. Ruby worries that she's just made her sister even more upset, and she frantically tries to think of a way to fix things. Yang cuts off her train of thought before she can try to say anything. "Great. As if you weren't hard enough to keep up with before." She can hear the hint of a smile in her sister's voice, and she smiles slightly in return.

"You're just mad because you always lose at tag."

"Oh, you are so full of it."

Ruby smiles wider at her sister's retort, before taking a deep breath and trying to be more serious. "Yang," she says quietly. "If you lose all your hair, I'll cut off all of mine as well."

Yang starts to cry again, but this time, she's smiling. "You're the best little sister I could ask for, you know that?" She pulls Ruby into another hug, squeezing her tightly. "But I think I've got a better idea. Why don't we have a seat, and you can tell me all about how your training is going? I'm bummed that I've missed out on so much."

And so, they fall into a new routine. Ruby will talk about what's been happening at school or in training, or tell her stories and dumb jokes, or do homework, while Yang applies her years of practicing hairstyles to messing with Ruby's hair. Ruby enjoys the feeling of her older sister playing with her hair. For the first time since she was little, she allows her hair to grow out a bit, down past her shoulders and midway down her back, so that Yang has more to work with.

And gradually, Yang starts to get better. She eats more and has more energy. Her hair starts to grow back. The doctor's visits become less frequent, moving to every two weeks to once a month to not at all, once Yang is declared healthy. They throw a party with all her friends to celebrate. She's allowed to return to school and start training again and eagerly throws herself into practicing, determined to catch up on everything she's missed.

Soon, Qrow moves back to his place, insisting that they're "cramping his style." Their house slowly goes back to normal as they fall back into their daily routines. Ruby has her sister cut her hair short again, although she still lets Yang mess with it from time to time. The bond between the two sisters is stronger than ever.

No matter what, they'll always have each other's backs.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please comment and leave kudos if you liked it.
> 
> Just a reminder that I do take requests for fics, so if there's an idea that you'd like to see me write, feel free to message me and if I like it, I might end up writing something for it.


End file.
